


Retreat!

by mmmdraco



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2012-10-25
Packaged: 2017-11-17 00:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Haze Go Club goes on a retreat. Everything goes wrong in the most hilarious way possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retreat!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aiwritingfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiwritingfic/gifts).



> For Ai, who gave me this prompt suggestion months ago during the Hikago Team Deathmatch when I wanted something non-deathmatchy to write. It, uh, eventually got finished?

Hikaru looked up at the ramshackle inn and then down at the pamphlet in front of him. "No. No way is this the same place!"

Tsutsui took the pamphlet from Hikaru's hands and looked over it carefully. "The address is correct. It looks kind of the same, really, or at least the shape is. Oh, wait. This pamphlet seem to be fifteen years old."

Kaga kicked a rock. "I knew I shouldn't have come with you go freaks. Too busy playing with your stones to notice what's going on around you."

Akari frowned. "I'm sorry, everyone. I'm the one who made the reservation. I should have looked more carefully."

Kaneko put an arm around the other girl's shoulders. "It's okay, Akari-chan. Mitani-kun was the one who gathered the information about inns. It's his fault."

Mitani scowled and hitched his bag further up his shoulder. "With our price range, this was one of the only places we could stay and have three rooms."

Tsutsui looked back at the pamphlet again. "It does say there's a hot spring. That should still be okay, right? We've already paid for the rooms. Maybe it isn't as bad inside?"

Kaga kicked another rock. This time it was toward Mitani.

"Hey!" Mitani kicked it back.

Hikaru grabbed the pamphlet from Tsutsui and hit Mitani with it. "Both of you, stop it. Let's avoid visiting the nearest hospital for as long as we can manage, okay?"

Akari swallowed audibly as she looked at the wooden building. "Now that I think about it, there weren't any pictures of the inside. But, as long as there's indoor plumbing, then it's a step up from camping, right?"

Tsutsui laughed weakly and adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag. "Let's hope so."

Kaga kicked at another rock which earned him a frown from Mitani. Hikaru sighed. "Let's just do this and see. I mean, it's a retreat, right? If it's horrible, we'll work together to get through it and that's building teamwork, right?"

"Assuming we're not building a rocket ship to get home as fast as possible." Kaneko grinned.

With a very, very deep breath, Hikaru led the group into what he expected to be a lobby, but was really little more than a rough hewn wooden desk with a middle-aged woman behind it. "Oh! You must be the Haze Go Club!"

Tsutsui pointed to himself. "Are we that famous?"

The lady laughed and brushed back several strands of her loose silver hair. "Well, if you are then I wouldn't know. I haven't played go since I sat on my grandfather's knee and now I'm a grandmother myself. But you look like middle school children and you're the only group I'm expecting today."

After clearing his throat, Tsutsui stepped forward toward the desk. "We are from Haze. We're supposed to have three rooms reserved?"

With a frown, the lady leafed through a pad of paper. "Three? We only have you down for two."

Tsutsui leaned toward her and slipped so that his hands landed hard on the edge of the desk. "What? No you- Argh!" He held up one hand and started waving it around as he groaned.

"Tsutsui-sempai! What's wrong?" Akari grabbed Tsutsui's hand and winced. "That's a really bad splinter!" She frowned. "I think it's in there too deep to get out without tweezers or a needle or something."

With one raised eyebrow, Kaga stomped over to Tsutsui and grabbed his hand from Akari's grasp and looked at it. "All that yelling about that little thing?" He pulled a jack knife from his pocket that he flicked open quickly and slid just under the edge of the bit of splinter that was sticking out, pressed his thumb against it and pulled quickly. 

Tsutsui gasped, but then he smiled. "Thank you!" He waved his hand around a little more and then turned back to the old lady. "We need three rooms. It's what we reserved."

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, but two is all we have right now. Tell you what, though. I've got a few spare futons I can bring in so none of you have to share, at least."

Hikaru groaned. "Three people in each room?"

Kaneko glared at him. "No. Akari and I will be in one room and the four of you can share the other."

Hikaru next groan was even louder. " _Four_ guys in a room? We'll practically be sleeping on top of each other! That is not cool."

"Maybe I misspoke when I called?" Akari frowned. "No. I'm certain I asked for three. But, Obaa-san, I don't think it was you that I talked to."

Her lips suddenly pursed, the old lady shook her head. "I'll just bet you called when my good-for-nothing granddaughter was looking after things for me the day I had a doctor's appointment. Oh, what the heck? We'll just throw in dinner tonight for free, okay?"

Mitani nodded. "Yeah. I'm starving!"

"Here are your keys, then. Dinner will be in about an hour and I'll bring over the extra futons when I get a chance. Your rooms are just down the hall."

Akari smiled brightly. "And how do we get to the hot springs?"

"Oh, those are closed right now. Someone's tour bus went off a ledge and landed half in the springs! But, don't worry! Everyone got out okay, and we've contracted with the bath house down the street. Just show your key and they'll let you in without paying."

Tsutsui cocked his head to one side. "But the nearest bath house was a long way down the street."

Kaga groaned. "This just keeps getting better and better. Maybe we should just go home."

"What? No!" Hikaru turned to the old lady again. "Is there at least a ping pong table here?"

"Well, there is. But it's outside."

Hikaru smiled. "Okay, that's fine."

Mitani glanced outside. "Not so much. Look!"

Everyone turned toward the window and groaned to see that it was raining. The old lady chuckled. "Sorry, kiddos. It is monsoon season, after all. I'll bring some candles and matches when I come by with the extra futons."

Tsutsui dug a small notebook and pen from his pocket and looked at it. "Okay, so we wanted to stay in a nice inn with a hot spring and play ping pong and tell ghost stories, right?"

Kaga caught Tsutsui in a headlock. "We can still tell the ghost stories, at least. The candles will make them even scarier. And I know one of you brats brought a magnetic go ban, so we'll play go. And maybe I can teach a few of you how to play _my_ game."

Hikaru gulped loudly. "I think that's even scarier than the ghost stories."

They pre-paid for their one night of rooms and then finally headed to their rooms and were relieved to discover that they were much bigger inside than the small size of the inn suggested. As Kaneko unfolded her futon, she frowned. "Does anyone actually want to walk down to the bath house? I'd rather just wait until the morning and bathe then."

Mitani shrugged and sat down on her futon. "That works for me." Kaneko frowned and gave the futon a jerk so that Mitani fell backward. "Ow! What the hell?"

Hikaru snickered. "Come on. Let's go get our room sorted out and we'll- Whoa!" He stepped back as the roof started leaking and a stream of water poured onto his head. 

Kaneko sighed as her futon got splashed. "Well, if anyone really wanted to shower..."

"I'll go tell the innkeeper!" Tsutsui ran from the room as Akari pulled the liner from a metal trash can and slid it under the stream where the water made plinking noises as drops of it splashed up inside the container.

It was several long minutes later that the old lady showed up at the door with candles and matches in her hands and Tsutsui following behind, but loaded down with two sets of futons, blankets and pillows. "Oh, that darned roof!" She laughed weakly. "I'm afraid that it might not be safe in this room tonight, ladies. This roof is very old. With a hole in it, I'm not certain it won't cave in on you."

Kaga hit his head against the wall in frustration. "So, what? Do you expect us to fit six futons in one room now?"

Akari grabbed her bag. "We were probably all going to fall asleep in one room anyway as we ate snacks and told ghost stories. This way we'll all have a bed!"

Hikaru groaned as he picked up her still-folded futon. "C'mon. Just across the hall."

Kaneko looked at Mitani who had sat back up on her futon. "You sat on it. It's your's now."

"But this one is wet now!" Mitani shouted as he scrambled to his feet.

"And?" Kaneko grinned and picked up her large bag and followed Akari.

Mitani brushed ineffectually at the wet spots on the futon and frowned as he folded it up enough to carry it across the hall.

By the time the innkeeper came around with dinner, they had they futons arranged in the room. Akari had brought out her hair dryer and let Mitani use it to dry the damp spot on his futon.

Dinner proved to be curry and rice with weak tea to drink. They had pushed the small table in the room across the hallway so they could have enough room, and therefore had to hold their dishes to eat. Tsutsui took the first bite and nodded in approval. Everyone else took that as a sign to dig in and already had mouthfuls by the time Tsutsui's eyes widened and he grabbed for his tea and swallowed most of it in one gulp. "It's so spicy!" he yelled as he began to rifle through his bag for the bottle of soda he'd brought along. 

Everyone but Kaga dove for their bags, though even his forehead started to bead with sweat. "It's curry. It's supposed to be a little spicy." But, like everyone else, he mostly just ate his rice and drank all of his tea rather quickly.

Akari held up a package of snacks. "What do you say we go ahead and start this party?"

Kaneko punched her fist in the air. "Okay!"

Tsutsui frowned. "Should we get into our pajamas first?"

Hikaru was already grabbing his track suit out of his bag. "Yeah!" He glanced around the room. "I guess the girls should go to the bathroom to change?"

Kaneko grinned. "Unless you boys just want to go across the hall?"

Mitani shivered. "And get crushed by the falling ceiling? No thanks."

Akari grabbed her bag and laughed. "Oh, come on, Kaneko-chan. It's fine to taunt Mitani-kun, but leave the rest of the boys alone."

She stuck her tongue out at Mitani as she stood up. "Fine. Masako... Out!"

When the door closed behind the girls, the boys quickly got into their sleepwear. Kaga was the first one done and snorted as he sat back down, cross-legged, on his futon. "I can't believe you talked me in to going on this thing."

Tsutsui pulled his pajama top over his head and adjusted his glasses quickly. "Well, you participate in the tournaments! If you really didn't want to go, you would have said no when I asked. Quit making it sound like I beat you into submission!"

"Seriously?" Kaga burst out laughing. "That's more backbone than I've ever seen you show. Okay, I guess that makes it all worth it."

Mitani raised an eyebrow at them while tying the drawstring of his pajama pants. "You guys aren't gay, are you?"

Kaga glared. "What's it to you?"

Mitani sat down. "Nothing. I mean, I guess the girls would feel better about sleeping in the room with you if you were gay. And, no offense, but this isn't the first time I've thought this."

Hikaru's nose wrinkled as he zipped up the top of his track suit. "Seriously? Who thought Mitani would think perverted thoughts like that?"

"No! Not like that!" Mitani frowned and then groaned as he moved over a bit on his futon. "Damn it! I didn't get the whole thing dry." Kaga snickered.

There was a knock on the door a moment later. Tsutsui answered it and let the girls in. "Oh! That didn't take you long."

Kaneko laughed. "Not all girls take forever to get ready. Although, I did think we might have to wait on Mitani-kun."

Mitani's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you calling me a girl? Ha! Takes one to know one!"

Blinking, Kaneko pointed to herself. "I am a girl."

With a shake of his head, Mitani stood up. "I- I know that! That's not what I meant to say. I just meant-" But in that time, Kaneko had crossed the room and had kissed him.

"There. Now you're quiet." She stepped over to her futon and put her bag down.

Akari laughed. "Kaneko!" She covered her mouth as she continued to laugh. "Mitani-kun... You're bright red!"

Kaga stretched his legs out in front of himself and lay back on the futon with his knees bent. "Serves him right for not respecting his elders."

Mitani wiped his lips with the back of his hand and grimaced. "Hey, it's one thing to kiss me on the cheek, Kaneko, but the lips?"

Hikaru's eyes went wide. "Whoa! You guys are doing that much kissing already?"

Kaneko leaned forward and held one finger in front of her lips. "It's a secret!"

Akari nodded matter-of-factly. "Which means yes. But that's great! You guys are so cute together." Mitani grumbled and crossed his arms as he sat back down.

Tsutsui looked at his wristwatch and then at the pile of candles in front of them. "You know, it's late enough that we could go ahead and start telling ghost stories. The innkeeper seemed pretty certain that the power was going to go out, and it's already dark outside. So, we could light the candles and turn out the lights and not have to freak out any extra if the power goes out in the middle of someone's story."

Kaga kicked one of his feet up and crossed it over one bent knee. "Ha! You're such a scaredy-cat sometimes."

Akari giggled. "I think it sounds great! Then we'll have the same ambiance the whole time so no one's story gets an unfair advantage."

Tsutsui set up the first set of candles in their holders and lit them while Hikaru turned off the lights.

Kaneko cleared her throat. "I guess I'll start?" There was silence as the light of the candles flickered in her eyes. "Okay... It was a dreary day when a young girl was walking along the rivedbed and she came across a beautiful woman with gorgeous eyes and long black hair and a nice figure. She was wearing a surgical mask and-"

"Kuchisake Onna," said Hikaru loudly. "Boring."

"Hikaru!" Akari kicked him in the shin. "Okay, fine. My turn, then." She leaned closer to the candle and smiled creepily. "In Innoshima, there was a poor blind man who was mugged and killed-"

"Te-no-me," Hikaru said with a grin. "Old news."

Kaga snorted. "All ghost stories have been done before. I'd like to see you come up with a new one."

Hikaru laughed. "Well, that's easy!" He sat closer to the candles and glanced back over his shoulder. "Way back when, in the Heian era, there lived a man named Fujiwara no Sai. He was a tall and gentle man with long, flowing hair and delicate features, and he was a go instructor for the emperor. However, there was another instructor for the emperor: a man named Sugawara no Akitada. The Fujiwara clan was very powerful at this time, though Sai had no designs on the empire. His life was go and he loved teaching others about the game. Akitada, however, feared for his place at the emperor's side and rigged a match between himself and Sai by having snuck a few stones out of Sai's go ke before they started playing. 

"They were both powerful opponents. The game was of a very high level; enough so that no one else could follow it. So when Akitada slipped a few stones into the lid of his go ke in an attempt to cheat and noticed that Sai was about to call him out on it, he told the emperor that Sai was the one who had just cheated. Since no one else had been able to properly follow the game, Sai was found guilty of the crime.

"Sai walked out to the river, there in the fall with the last of the leaves beginning to fall, and he drowned himself because he knew that he could never live without go, but he turned into a ghost instead of just dying. For around 800 years, he was almost in a stasis. He was just waiting for the right person to come along. And then one did: Kuwabara Torajirou. He was a young boy who managed to see Sai and talked to him. He recognized Sai's love for go and played him by placed stones for them both, but Torajirou knew he wasn't good enough to give Sai a challenge. So, instead, he battled other players while letting Sai tell him which moves to make. 

"Torajirou played thousands upon thousands of hands of go professionally and no one ever had a clue that he wasn't the brain behind them. And then, when a cholera epidemic swept through Japan, Torajirou made the decision to tend patients in his house in Innoshima and ended up dying himself from the disease. The whole while, Sai despaired about no longer being able to play go, but he was a gentle soul and Torajirou had explained to him that everything had a limit, even Torajirou's own ability to keep up the lie that he was the one playing all of those amazing games.

"But Sai didn't die then, either. He remained a spirit and stayed with the go ban that Torajirou had died at; remembering fondly the many variations of games that had been played upon it, until one day, several hundred years later, another young boy came across the go ban and first noticed a blood stain upon it that no one else could see, and then noticed the spirit. But the boy didn't like go at all! But the spirit was so sad upon hearing this that the boy felt nauseous and agreed to the same terms that Torajirou had played under. But this boy knew nothing at all about go, so he took a few classes. And then he began to play.

"But, somehow, Sai's love for the game must have leeched into him because he suddenly loved go. It was as important to him as anything else ever had been and, more and more, _he_ wanted to play instead of just placing the stones for someone else. He tried to make time for Sai's games, but it wasn't enough for Sai who complained that he didn't get to play enough except to teach the boy." Hikaru trailed off. "Sorry, I guess there's not an end to that story yet."

Tsutsui looked up from where he was clutching his pillow. "What happened to Sai?"

Hikaru laughed. "He's still here. He hovers behind the boy all the time and gives him answers on his history tests and teaches the boy go whenever it seems appropriate, even if it isn't always, and he continues to learn about go."

Akari shivered, but let out a soft laugh. "You thought that up after what happened at your grandfather's house that one time, right?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Kaga raised an eyebrow. "That would explain a lot about you, though. Sometimes you suck, and sometimes you play like Shuusaku. But that really is crazy."

"Shuusaku?" Mitani looked over at Kaga.

Tsutsui's eyes widened. "Oh! That's where I'd heard that name before. Honinbou Shuusaku was Torijirou before he was famous."

Grabbing Tsutsui's pillow, Kaga said, "You guys really are go freaks," and then pulled the stolen pillow down over his head.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the room and put out the candles. Akari shrieked, "Oh, god! What am I holding? I really hope this is a maki roll."

Kaneko yelled, "You grabbed my futomaki?!"

Hikaru scowled. "Maybe we should just go to sleep. Things will be better in the morning when we can check out of here, right?"

After a short conversation of mostly agreement, they settled down to sleep. When the morning came, Hikaru woke up to a large drop of water falling on his face. He struggled to open his eyes and shut them quickly as another drop fell on him. "What?" He sat up and looked at the ceiling for a long moment and began to marvel at how the various leaks managed to drip one at a time, and then it hit him that the innkeeper had been so worried about a single drip in the other room. "Damn," he said as he climbed from his futon and began shaking everyone awake. "Guys, the roof is going to cave in!"

There was a moment of panic as everyone grabbed their things and dashed from the room to huddle in the hallway. Tsutsui held his bag over his head as he said, "Is it even safe out here? The same roof is over this!"

Kaga shook his head. "What time is it?"

Tsutsui checked his watch. "Just after 5am."

"Seriously? Fuck." Kaga rubbed his eyes with the back of one knuckle. "Let's just get dressed and head out. The first train should be at the station by at least 6am, right? And even if it isn't, it's got to be better than waiting here to die."

They took turns changing in the bathroom and then went to the front desk. "I guess we should just leave the keys here?" Akari asked as she looked around for the old lady.

Kaga headed toward the door with his bag clung over his shoulder. "Do whatever. Just do it fast so the place doesn't cave in on you."

Tsutsui pulled out his small notebook and pen again and scribbled a note that he placed on the desk with the keys on top of it to hold it down. "There. Now, let's go."

They got to the station and discovered that the first train wouldn't arrive until almost 9am. 

"We could do breakfast," Kaneko said. 

Hikaru opened his bag and pulled out some of the snacks he hadn't eaten the night before. "What's the point? We've all got snacks left, right?"

"While doing what?" Mitani leaned against the station wall and sighed.

Hikaru opened his bag again and pulled out a magnetic go ban. "Well, there's always this."

Tsutsui opened his bag and pulled out another one. "I've got mine, too!"

With a sigh, Kaga sat down on a bench. "Go freaks." He sighed again and looked up at Tsutsui. "Fine. I'll player the winner of your match, and we'll just keep rotating until the damn train gets here."

Kaneko stepped up to Tsutsui. "I'll play you first, sempai. Maybe a little go will help me wake up a little."

By the time they got on the train, even Hikaru was beginning to complain. "Ugh. Even Sai doesn't make me play that much at once!" 

Tsutsui's eyes widened, but then his expression softened. "Oh. Ha! You're trying to get us with that story from last night. But it really wasn't that scary."

Hikaru leaned his head back as he nestled into his seat. "Well, I didn't finish it. It could always get scary at some point. I hope not, though. Go shouldn't be scary." He frowned. "Or, really, should it? Because then you could scare off your opponents..." He shook his head. "Nah, forget it. I just need more sleep."

Mitani yawned and then yelped as Kaneko snapped one of his suspenders. "Hey! Ugh. Let's not do this again."

Akari laughed. "Well, it was still a _little_ fun, wasn't it? And, besides, if we save up a little more for next time, then we can stay at a place that isn't literally falling apart. Right, Hikaru?"

But Hikaru was already fast asleep and starting to snore.


End file.
